Tag Archives: holidays

Season’s greetings from the Pacific Northwest! I’m spending the day with family, but I wanted to leave a quick note here wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your family. Thanks for making 2018 the best year here at my blog. Thanks for buying and reading my books. Thanks for telling your friends and thank you for leaving reviews. It means a lot to me.

The year is coming to an end in a few weeks, and in these twilight days of 2018, I’m one to reflect on the things I’ve accomplished. Last year, I revisited my top five posts of 2017, and I thought it’d be interesting to do that again this year.

This has been a banner year for my blog—I’ve seen a lot more traffic than I ever have before, which is always exciting. After all, I’ve wanted to make this site my primary focus rather than spreading bits and pieces of myself all over social media. My hope is that this becomes a place where readers can find more than just generic author-bloggy stuff but also interesting content. Based on my top posts, I think I’m finding that balance. So, let’s see what resonated, we’ll start at number five and work our way to number one.

Writers are often asked to offer up their personal “rules” for writing, and unless you’re Jonathan Franzen, other authors (or aspiring authors) love to share and discuss their thoughts. I noticed a correlation between the number eight and decided to riff off that—and then things went out of control. There is good advice to be had here from masters in the field, glean from it what you can.

My background is in graphic design, and as a reader, a good map has always drawn me in—many fantasy authors (and game masters) need maps for their various projects, and they don’t have the skill set to render them in a useful way. My hope with this post was to deliver a handy guide for the more artistically challenged authors (or GMs) by exploring the map creation software and sites currently available.

If there is one post I am most proud of this year, it’s this one—for a long time I thought it’d be number one. Consider this my manifesto. An appeal for the wicked, as it were. I want you to write fiction that makes people uncomfortable. Give us perspectives outside our echo chambers. Make us care. Let our hearts be in conflict.

As always the internet loves a good gift guide. For the fifth straight year, my Lovecraftian gift guide has attracted all manner of visitors who are eager to see what strange and unusual items I’ve discovered over the year. This year’s list is no different. There’s a ton of great gifts, and there is still time to get your orders in on many of these products.

I’ll be honest, this one took me by surprise. For a while now, during the holiday season, I’ve often shared Lovecraft’s weird Christmas poems, but this rarity quickly took off, in a single day it surpassed all other posts for the year. That’s the weird internet for you. Go figure.

So, there are the top five posts decided by you, the reader! I’m disappointed that none of my Raunch Review series made the top five, but I still have high hopes for those posts. I firmly believe they’ll eventually find their audience and I’ll get some crazy email from someone adamantly disagreeing with my judgments.

Thank you to all my readers who read, comment, and share the stuff I post on I Make Stories. Sharing my posts on your blogs and social media accounts makes a difference. It means a lot to see your excitement and that excitement makes it all worthwhile. With your help, you made 2018 the best year ever, and I’m excited to see what 2019 holds.

❄️ 💀 ❄️

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It’s Thanksgiving Day here in the United States, and I wanted to take a brief moment to just say thank you to all my loyal readers. There are millions and millions of books in the world, and I appreciate that you spent some of your time with my weird little series. That means a lot to me. Your passion and excitement are incredibly encouraging. I appreciate all your tweets, emails, and reviews. So, on this day of thanksgiving, I extend my heartfelt thanks to you. You’re the best.

🍂 Happy Thanksgiving! 🍂

Want to stay in touch with me? Sign up for Dead Drop, my rare and elusive newsletter. Subscribers get news, previews, and notices on my books before anyone else delivered directly to their inbox. I work hard to make sure it’s not spammy and full of interesting and relevant information. SIGN UP TODAY →

Christmas is almost upon us. (Less than 22 days now.) If you are planning to gift any of my books from The Bell Forging Cycle there are a few things you need to know to get the books in time for unwrapping:

If you want signed copies before Christmas and you live in the US. You’ll need to order from my store no later than December 11th. As of today, I still have plenty of copies that are ready for your friends or family. Shipping takes about a week. You can always order afterwards, but I can’t promise they’ll arrive before the 25th.

My cutoff for International orders is also December 11th as well. That includes Canada and Mexico. As with US orders, you are welcome to order afterwards, but I can’t promise they’ll arrive before the 25th.

Finally, if your gifty is an ebook reader like me. You don’t have to worry about any shipping at all. Most ebook sites allow you to send books instantly! Handy.

I hope that clarifies things for those who have been asking. Again, a big thank you to those who want to help spread Waldo’s story in the world of the Territories this holiday season. It means a lot, and I appreciate it. Knowing there are people out there who want to share my stories make writing them worthwhile. (Also, please go leave an honest review.)

Sign up for Dead Drop, my rare and elusive newsletter. Subscribers get news, previews, and notices on my books before anyone else delivered directly to their inbox. I work hard to make sure it's not spammy and full of interesting and relevant information.